How can you connect this new skill to the student’s priorities? How can you assure ownership by making the development of this skill the student’s goal rather than just your goal for the student?
If the student wants to obtain paid work or admission into a post-secondary program, but is not motivated to develop a resume, you might show examples of postings that explicitly request a resume, and illustrate via role-play or social narrative how an employer uses a resume to determine who to interview.
As you introduce this skill, how will you incorporate (visually, thematically) the student’s unique interests?
Try having the student develop a resume based on a fictionally desired job, such as a time traveler or dinosaur hunter. Together, you and the student can identify the educational and work histories required to jump through time, volunteer positions that have helped prepare for the job, and input the hopeful time traveler’s name and contact information. This fun activity can alleviate some of the anxiety around this otherwise tedious task.
Can you make it visually clear to the student who is resistant to change that his assumption is only one way of looking at things? Can your use of visual supports and self-assessments help the student understand what is required, get agreement on the strategies to complete each task, and create the motivation to initiate each task?
Review the purpose and importance of the resume from the student and employer perspectives, perhaps with social narratives or role-playing.
Graphic organizers, blank templates, and resume samples visually clarify the large amount of information being requested. These tools can be designed to guide the arrangement and amount of information, vital aspects considering the 1-2 page limit of a resume. Many times, just seeing an example of what and where to include information on a completed resume can provide better understanding. Otherwise, requesting “personal information” may be inferred to mean name, previous three home addresses, social security number, birthdate, weight and height, race, and religious affiliation; definitely too “personal” for a resume.
Priming is a form of negotiation that can reframe and sharpen a student’s assessment of self. Below are the self-assessment tools that align with this intervention topic:
Looking for a Job - Resumes and Portfolios
Interspersal is a proven technique involving the presentation of familiar, higher success tasks with the new, more challenging task. When it is appropriate, are you varying the activities to maintain the student’s confidence and focus?
At the core, developing a resume requires organizing and writing information. If a student has strengths in these areas, she may benefit from the interspersal of choice organization and writing tasks, such as journaling. For a student who struggles with these two base skills, be sure to intersperse tasks that do not rely on organization and writing.
Before the student engages in an activity related to resume-development, how do you help the student prepare? How do you activate prior knowledge? How do you orient him to the materials he will use?
Many of the activities around resume writing require the student to maintain focus while stationary at a desk. Some students may need to engage in physical movement such as stretching before being expected to sit and work.
Provide simple visual instructions that identify what information to include, how to limit the amount, and general arrangement through sample resumes and graphic organizers (detail maps, templates, etc.). Be sure to select only the necessary visual supports for completion of the specific skill being targeted by the activity; too much “support” will just further confuse the student!